Liquid seal for rotary apparatus.



PP SMUELS.

,LIQUID SEAL FO?.- EOTARY APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIGE FILED o0T.18,197.

@S24-0,836. f Patented June 15, 1909.

witnesses: Inventor: Frcirick Sam Liaison) STATESPATENT: omen.

' FnnnnnioKsA-MUELSON, oir-RUGBY, .nireLANnfssis-Non Tof' GENERAL ELECTRIC CoM-a l rANnAsonPoRATiON or NEW-Yorin; i f

Liguri) s'EAL Fon RGTARYAPPARATUS- f tain new anduseful Improvements in L ic'luiidf` "Seals :for. -lotary A paratus, of whichv the l"allowing ,1s a speci s cation. f .'l'hlsmventlon relates to 'liquid seal'sofjthe;

vtype.en'lp'loy'fed inl hi'ghfspeed rotary enginesyf .105

' ingN a'1r 'or steam leaking around the lShaft where' 1t passesv througha p'artition'having a such' 'as turbines for the-purpose of prevent'- lifference of pressure on its two sides.

.'lhe object 'of my' invention is to produce a liquid seal ofthe oentrifugaltype in which the liquid. .therein is automatically mainv iinedl at lts proper level; so that there shall `leither be too little liquid, thus permitting leakage of air or steam, no rrtoo muchliquid, entalling.pruning over into the lower pressure.)`

The 'present invention maybe 'ap' lied to horizontal or vertical 'turbinesi eit ier be tween stages or between the low` or inter-.- vmediate ressure stages andthe atmosphe1e' andthe ollowing descri tion is that ota seal' as a pliedto a 'vertice'J shaft turbine, near the' ottom of its shaft and between the last stage wheel, the underside otwhich is lopen to the'condenser, and the 'bottom' bearing', which is 4in communication withthe atmo'sj trates one oftheembodim'ents of my invention, Figurev 1 shows a partj o'ajv-ertical shafty turbine' with the seal'situated between the last -stage wheeld and' the lower bearings; the

step bearing blocks'having'been omitted for the sake' 'of yclearness;v and Fig.`2 vshows a slightly modified form 'of liquid seal. .In 'the drawing 1 represents the shaft car'- rying the rotatinglelement of; the turbine which is supported in a casing?J containing a step-and-'guide-bear'ing of any suitable construction. Ontheshaftissecured a diskS rovided with vanes lv on.its'uppersuriace his disk is curved downWardlLy'and proge'cts `into an annular chamber which is formed 1n thelcasing 5 carried by 'the bearing casing 2.' 'This'('zhamber has top 'and bottomwalls 6 and 7 .which may beA curved substantially similarly to the diskl l3 andshould ltit fairly closely and also a peripheral 'wall that sur-l rounds the disk. The lower Wall 7, the under- -sid'elof which is exposed 4to atmospheric pres- 'pipe 10 with a Water tank l1 that illustrated lin Figi the t'wo'firms are identical.

Patented June 15, 1909.

-. `sure projects farther 'inwardly and upwardly than'the-top 'wall 6 so that when the turbine is standing, the liquid,vshould the chamber 'be Iflooded', will ilow over the upper wall into the' condenser, and not over the bottom'wall 60 into the bearing casing 2. l prefer to'use water for iilling the chamber because it'will do no harm to the condenser if it enters it but'other iiuids may be employed if desired.

water 'inlet port 8 is provided in the lower 65 wall and is connected by apassage 9 and laced in a convenient ositi'on in which tie Water is -maintainedy a' ball cock 12 or other ftpproved means at a level corresponding to that in thejchamber-so that when4v the-machine is not rotating the wateris'not wasted .by flowing over the vtop ilange mtotlie condens er.

4 ln the niodiiied form of my invention illusY 7,5' Y trated 1n' Fig. 2 thedisk 3 is )rovided with varies 4, on both its upper and ower surfaces and the lower wall 7 of the chamber conforms more closely to the shape of the disk than t'will be seen. that the rotating disk forms 'the frustum of a conc do also' the upper and' lower walls of the casing. The 'bore of lthe lower wall through vwhich the shalt passes 'is enough above that of the upper wall to. prevent li uid from the chamber flowing thrm-iglii it into the bearings below. Owing to the arrangement'of the parts the periph,-

ery the diskfis alwaysim-niersed in li uid so thatan effective seal. is i'ormcd whe her the machine is in operation or not. 'This is of particular advantage in starting the ina"- 4chine into operation and 'also nf'here'two 'or moreniachines 4are connected to the' same 95 condenser system.. y v

The operation is as follows :A When-the shaft rotates, the.' water contained in the chamber being put in motion by'the disk createsan' outward pressure by its centrifu-l 190 gal` i` orce, and'it'a dif-ference of pressure exists, between the twosides of the disk 3, the radial depthof water on the two sides will dii'ler by anamount sufficient to balance the-difierence in pressure.' Shouldv the amount of wt- 105 -te'r inthe chamber bc sullicien't to cover the l' inlet port S' an outward pressure will be cre` 'ated in'the passage 9 and 'pipe' l0 which will tend'toforce out the water. On the other "hand if the inlet portis not covered by Water ln other respects 8O 2'5 patentstatutes,I have described theprinci- .ple of operation of my invention, together -it will be exposed to atmospheric ressure and' by Iarran ing the position of't ie inlet ort and the eight of water'tank suitably, 1t is possible to maintain water in the cham- .ber atsuch a level that the lower side or peripheral portion ofthe disk will be sufficiently immersed to revent leaka e and the Wateron the upper side of disk'wi not, taking intoV account Athe difference o f radial depth due to pressure as before mentioned, flow-ove`r top walll of the chamber.. By

vmeans,of this arrangement the water seal effectively excludes any air leakage into the4 condenser While the turbine is running, and also an excess of water is prevented from accumulating and giving trouble 'by overflowing into the bearings.

Other modifications than those described above and illustrated in the drawings may bemade Without departing'from the spiritof the invention; for instance, the wheel may be stationary. and the parts containing the chamber revolving, the water being admitted throughpassages in the .wheel l In accordance with the provisions vof the with the a paratus which Iv now consider to re resent t e best'einbodiment thereof; but I e'sire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative,- and that the invention can be carried out by other means. l/Vhat I clalm as new and desire to secure i by Letters Patent of the United States, is,

1. A liquid sealfor rotary machines-comprising a chambered casing containing liquid,

va rotary disk extending into the chamber whose entire periphery is at all times im mersed in liquid, and a means for sup lying an amount of liquid to the chamber w iich is insufficient to overflow the wall of said cham ber when the machine is not running and is sufficient to form a seal tov prevent 'thepassage of elastic fluid.

2. A liquid seal lfor rotary machines comy prising a chambered casing containinglliquid, 1- a rotary disk extendingv into the c ywhose entire vanes on the a rotary disk extending into.the c amber whose entire periphery 1s alwa s immersed,-

vanes on the disk, a source of iquid supply feeding into the chamber, means for 'mamtaining such a level inthe source that the supp liquid in the chamber will not overflow its' wall, and a port connecting the source of vsupply and the chamber which'- is so disposedl that the pressure created by the rotating disk balances the head of liquid' so lon'g 'as it is coveredby the moving mass lof liquid.

' 4. In combination,- a vertically 'disposed shaft, a chambered h whicliithe shaft asses, a disk mounted ont e shaft and exten into the chamber whose periphery is at all times immersed in liquid, and means for maintaining a. body of liquid in the cham ber Whose leve is belowv the upper wall of the casini'. 5.. combination,l a vertically disposed shaft, a casing through whichv the shaft vpasses comprising a'peripheralwall and u per and lower'walls, the bore of one of t e Walls. being located at a point above that of the .other wall to revent liquid 'from' flowing vthrough'it, a dis rotating in the chamber -formed between the walls whose periphery is always immersed in liquid, and ameans for ying li uid to the chamber. 6. Incom ination, a vertically disp led shaft', a casing having a bore through which the shaft passes and comprising a peripheral wall and conical top and bottom4 walls a conical disk secured to the shaft and extending into the chamber bounded bythewalls, a port admitting liquid to thechainber, and a means for maintaining a body of liquid in the chamber sufficient to cover the ort.

7 In' combination, a vertice y disposed shaft, a casing ,having a bore through which theshaft'passe's and comprising a peripheral wall'and top and bottom walls which. rise. as

they 'approach 'the shaft, the .bore of the' lower wall being situated above the level of that of the upper wall to prevent liquid 'from overflowing it, a disk mounted on the shaft torotate in the chamber bounded by' said walls, and means for supplying liquid'to the chamber. l

8. In combination, a vertically Vdisposed shaft, a casing containing a bearing therefor, a chambered casing locatedy above the first through which the shaft passes and whosel upper land lower walls rise as they a roach the shaft, the bore of the .lowerwa above that of the u per wall, a disk rotating in the chamber anil conforming in shape to the walls of thechamber, afport admitting liquid to the chamber, a sourceof supply, and means regulating the amount of liquid su pliedthrough the 'port to the chamber.

In witness-whereo I have hereunto set .my hand this 30th dayr of September, 1907.

. FREDERICK sAMUELsoN., i

VVitnessesz f 'CHARLES HhFcLLnn, J. A. Fos'rnn. v 

